After collecting the final chest, we climb to the top of the Forgotten Tower. We could see it from outside while on the skyboat and tell that there's nothing up there, but we go up for the view and the Deed nonetheless.

You have climbed to the highest point in the Forgotten Tower.

I had already gotten a level in [Climbing] just from all the stairs I've been going up and down lately, but won't argue with another simple Deed.

"Too bad we have to climb back down the stairs and can't have the girls pick us up from up here," Basalt says with a chuckle.

It's not as tall as Corwen's tower, and we see from a higher vantage point while flying all the time, but it's still cool to see the forests and orchards of the domain from up here. Southern Tempest is wilder and more heavily forested than northern Tempest. We're further west and south than Corwen, so we're seeing Zenith in the sky and the Black Mountain from a different angle, plus we're not far from the southwest edge.

"What did we get from those last few floors?" I ask.

Jade pulls out the pile of loot. "Well, no more dog biscuits, anyway."

I identify the drops one by one. "Ball point pen of +1 Dexterity. A flower petal… I think it's a lotus. It'll give a bonus to Enhanced Heart (Rapid Healing). And this one…"

We finish distributing the minor loot and head back down all the stairs to regroup at the boat. Amethyst has gotten a big pot of stew going on a campfire in the middle of the clearing.

I don't feel like flying all the way back to Corwen for the night when there's other dungeons in the area to hit, plus we want to run this one again and try not to mess up the books this time, so we break out the blankets and pillows and take our choice of curling up inside the boat or on the ground for the night. I go with the boat.

At green the next morning, we're having some breakfast and getting ready to head in for another delve when another adventuring party emerges from the forest, coming on foot from the southwest.

Name: Dandelion (?) Tempest Tiganna Race: Human | Gender: Male | Rank: Elite | Tier: Apprentice | Class: Apprentice Guardian Disposition: Friendly | Mood: Annoyed

Name: (?) (?) Hush Tiganna Race: Halfling | Gender: Male | Rank: Elite | Tier: Journeyman | Class: Poised Rogue Disposition: Friendly | Mood: Bored

Name: Bear (?) Tempest Tiganna Race: Human | Gender: Male | Rank: Basic | Tier: Novice | Class: Athletic Child Disposition: Friendly | Mood: Eager

"Aw man, someone else is already here?" whines Bear the [Athletic Child], who looks to be about ten and does not (yet) live up to his name. "I wanted to run the dungeon! I thought everyone would be in class. I skipped school to come here!"

"Other children do low-level puzzle dungeons too," the halfling says. "They were here first."

"But they've got a flying boat and everything and we had to walk all the way from Dolwen!" Bear continues to whine.

"We're actually just still here to retry the puzzle on the fourth floor," I say. "There's a very mean Heroic boss up there who gets pissed off if you mess up the puzzle, so I don't recommend trying it. Feel free to run the first few floors."

"Are you skipping school too?" Bear asks.

"No, I don't start until next year," I say. "So I'm getting in as many dungeons as I can."

"You're only 9 and you're already fighting Heroic bosses?" Bear says. "Man… Who are you?"

"I'm Drake Corwen," I say.

"I'm Bear Narberth. That's my brother Dandelion, and our babysitter Gogo."

The halfling gives a smirk and a small wave.

"You're a Corwen?" Bear says. "That explains it. Corwens are all weird."

The three of them take a breather and make some preparations before heading inside. We wait for them to return. It's not like we don't have drills and skill practice to do in the meantime. It doesn't take them long to emerge, slightly scuffed.

"How'd it go?" I ask.

"Wrestling the dog was much more fun than wrestling the cat," Bear says.

"I'll bet," Basalt says.

"We cleared the first two floors," Gogo says. "You're good to go. Thanks for letting us go first."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

My party goes in next. We head past the cleared floors and up to the library again. This time, we manage to get all the animated books into the correct places without any mishaps.

Once we're done, the owl boss moves from his spot to inspect our handiwork. "Satisfactory," he proclaims. "You may claim the chest."

In addition to the usual handful of coins, the chest that appears in the middle of the library also contains a pair of glasses of +1 Perception (because magic glasses don't care what your eye prescription might be) and a book that I can actually read. However, as it is on the topic of bookbinding and library maintenance, none of my party members find it interesting, so we put it in the Hebron pile.

Jade puts on the glasses and lifts them several times to check the difference in eyesight. "Man, a +1 isn't that much of a difference and they feel weird, but I'll take it."

On the alchemy floor, we try a different combination of herbs and get a similar anemic response from the raven, and another collection of minor loot for the pile.

We return outside and find the two boys and the halfling chatting with Anise and Amethyst.

"Narberth is out east of Corwen, isn't it?" I say. "I think I've seen you at festivals. When you get home, if they don't ground you forever for skipping school, you should visit the Spooky Grove."

"Been there, done that," Bear says. "Fighting spiders is boring and I've done all the puzzles so many times."

"It's changed since you were last there," I say.

"They can do that?" Bear asks. "Huh."

"How about we give you guys a ride back to Dolwen?" I say. "Save you the trouble of walking and you'll be back in time for tomorrow's classes."

Bear groans but agrees, so we pack up and prepare to get underway.

"Have you ever flown on a skyboat before?" Jade asks.

Bear shakes his head as he climbs on board hesitantly. There's nervousness in his aura, but he's putting on a brave face. That facade quickly cracks once the sigils light up and the boat lurches into the sky. Bear squeaks and clings to the seat with both hands.

"It's still early and Wonderland is on the way," Anise says. "Do you kids want to stop in there?"

"We ran it on the way here," Gogo says, lounging back and enjoying the flight.

"Do I count as a kid?" Amethyst says. "What's Wonderland like?"

"Oh, you have to see it, and you're totally a kid," Anise says. "It's another Basic-rank puzzle dungeon."

"We can set down nearby and let you try to solo it if you want," I say. "There might be something music-related in there too but I'm not sure. How's your quest going, Melody?"

"It's still active, so I think I still have a ways to go," Melody says. "Tempest has some very interesting dungeons!"

It takes a bit of searching to find the rabbit hole, especially since I can't use [Aether Sense] to pinpoint the location of the dungeon since it's technically on the Underside and so well out of range. We circle around the general vicinity where Anise thinks it is for a bit until Amethyst spots the White Rabbit with my telescope.

"I see a very large white bunny wearing fancy clothes," Amethyst says, pointing.

I take the telescope and try to spot the storybook monster, and barely catch a glimpse of him before he vanishes down into the rabbit hole. We land next to it quickly, Amethyst grabbing her gear as we do so, and she doesn't waste a moment in hopping in after him. At least since the dungeon is actually on the far side of the domain, its aether current doesn't stop us from landing right next to the rabbit hole.

"She has no idea what she's getting into," Basalt says with a hearty chuckle. "Is it as weird as Lewis Carroll's books were?"

"Yep," I say.

"So, how's a kid get an older brother and a babysitter following them around when they're at prep school?" Anise wonders.

"I was running dungeons in Hush with Dandelion," Gogo says. "He decided to visit Dolwen. We were just going to do the dungeons near the school while waiting for Bear to finish the term, but Bear had the brilliant idea to get to the low-level dungeons when everyone else was still in class. It's my job to escort them, not scold them. If I tried to forbid them from going, they'd just sneak away without me, and that would defeat the point."

"There's dungeons in Hush suitable for Elite rank?" I ask.

"Of course," Gogo says. "Don't get spooked by talk of scary high level dungeons. Monsters only roam outside of dungeons on the Underside. Hush Topside is no more dangerous than Tempest. The mist won't eat you. You should visit. Especially if I'm getting a free ride."

"That was incredibly weird," Amethyst says upon returning. "The scenery was amazing, though."

"How long does it take to reset?" Melody asks.

"Not sure," Anise says. "The riddles and stuff shouldn't need to wait to reset, though."

"We can always come back after we drop off the kid if necessary," Basalt says.

"Who you callin' a kid, beardy?" the kid protests.

Melody hops into the rabbit hole to check it out. I'm tempted to jump down there myself just because it's fun, but I'll leave her to her puzzles for the moment.

She's down there for about an hour before reappearing. "That was the most confusing dungeon I have ever been in, but I got it. Half the things they were saying weren't even words! And I'm still not sure what a 'portmanteau' is."

Without further ado, we take to the air again and make for Dolwen. There's three dungeons near there, but I'm passing on running them at the moment. They're within walking distance of school and I will have plenty of opportunity to do them later so for the moment I'd rather take advantage of my ability to go wherever I want and do whatever I want.

Is 1% rank progression typical for clearing a dungeon like the Forgotten Tower? That 4% first clear bonus from the Spooky Crypt was great but I can't count on always being able to find secrets and them being doable. With a skyboat, though, I could hit up every single level-appropriate dungeon in the skymote and check them off one by one. Definitely something to consider.

I stand at the bow and gaze off with my telescope as we approach Dolwen. Towers rise up beyond the shores of a large lake, the layout much more chaotic than a Hearth or classical castle. No wall encircles the sprawling school grounds, and small towers, greenhouses, barns, dorms, and other buildings I can't immediately identify litter the land between the skyport and the lake. If we get another bad winter, I might wind up leveling my [Cold Resistance] skill just going from class to class.

We're soon flying over Lake Trellyn and I take the tiller again to pull us in to the school's docking tower.

"That was amazing," Bear says, wobbling a little as he steps out of the boat onto the dock. "I want my own skyboat too!"

Gogo hefts his pack and hops off the boat after him. "Come on, kid, let's get you back to your dorm and you can explain to whoever wonders why you've been gone for days when you were supposed to be cramming for finals."

"But exams are boring," Bear whines as he and his brother follow the halfling to the stairs.

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